Classic showdown on tap for Marlins teammates

This story was excerpted from Christina De Nicola’s Marlins Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Dominican Republic vs. Venezuela.

Two Marlins will be at the forefront of arguably the most highly anticipated pool play matchup of the World Baseball Classic at 7 p.m. Saturday at loanDepot park.

There's a chance Dominican Republic ace Sandy Alcantara will stare into the box and see Venezuelan teammate Luis Arraez ready for the first pitch. Jean Segura and Johnny Cueto (Dominican Republic) and Jesús Luzardo (Venezuela) will be in the dugouts just as invested as the sold-out crowd.

Bragging rights will be on the line.

"It's hard to strike him out," Alcantara said of Arraez, who bested him during live batting practice early in camp. "I just want to throw my best pitch and see what he can do. We're excited. We have prepared ourselves to do our best for our country. I think they want to win. We want to win, too."

"One hundred percent, because I work with [DR general manager] Nelson [Cruz] in the DR every offseason," Arraez said. "He's like my family. Every time when I talk about baseball, I say, 'Hey, we're going there to win the game.' And then he said, 'No, we've got a good team. You've got to face Sandy first.' I said, 'OK.' Every time, Sandy does a really good job there."

Alcantara, Arraez and Luzardo will be competing in their first Classic. Cueto and Segura will be participating for the second time. Because of how stacked the DR's roster is, Segura doesn't expect to play every day; he is open to whatever role is asked of him.

"I'm going to go there and I'm going to enjoy [being on the] baseball field with legends from both sides," said Segura, who has been getting extra work in at third base this spring. "You're probably going to play with a lot of guys who will retire and might be in the Hall of Fame."

Luzardo, who was born in Lima, Peru, and raised by Venezuelan parents in South Florida, is scheduled to start Venezuela's game against Israel on March 15. He is excited to share a clubhouse with players he grew up watching, such as former Marlin Miguel Cabrera.

A 25-year-old southpaw, Luzardo also is eager to absorb knowledge from his veteran teammates, in particular Martín Pérez. The Rangers lefty made his first All-Star team in 2022.

"He had a great year last year, and he's had a great career, so it's a guy that I just want to pick his brain and see how he works and see what he thinks about when he faces hitters and stuff like that," Luzardo said. "We're going to be seeing some great hitters, so it's good to pick those guys' brains."

Manager Skip Schumaker would like to watch some of the action in person. If games overlap with the Grapefruit League schedule, he'll cheer from afar.

"If I got to play for Team USA, I'd be excited about it, and I hope each one of them have a chance to play in the championship game, because that's a playoff atmosphere," Schumaker said. "These games are so much fun to watch on TV. If you ever get to go to one, it's like a playoff game. So I'm excited for them to play in that type of atmosphere."